Split Pea Minestrone

I was inspired by a recipe I saw on Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide and modified Greg’s recipe slightly, purely because I never had all of the ingredients on hand.  This is a lovely healthy and flavourful soup which made for a very enjoyable lunch.  I used chicken stock which you can swap out with vegetable stock for a full vegetarian version and add more stock if you prefer a thinner minestrone.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp cumin seeds
1 inch piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped
1 brown onion sliced
2 carrots peeled and diced
125g button mushrooms sliced
1 cup split peas
½ cup dry white wine
420g tin chopped tomatoes
3tbsp coriander chopped
4 cups chicken stock
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Method

1. In a pot over a medium heat, toast the cumin seeds in the olive oil.
2. Add the ginger and sauté for one minute.
3. Add the onion and fry until lightly browned.
4. Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook until the carrots start to soften.
5. Add the split peas and wine and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated.
6. Add the tomatoes, coriander, chicken stock and black pepper and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer until the split peas are cooked through.

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Minestrone

The best thing about Minestrone is you can substitute any of the ingredients for what you have in the cupboard.

 

Ingredients

1 packet bacon chopped
2 leeks sliced
1 large onion peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery chopped
5 carrots peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
2 potatoes peeled and diced
410g tin baked beans
410g tin chopped tomatoes
1 litre vegetable stock
100g spaghetti

Method

1. In a large pot, fry the bacon and then add the leeks, onions, celery, carrots, garlic and potatoes, beans, tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil.
2. Break the spaghetti into the pot in small bits and simmer for 45 minutes.

 Serve with croutons.

Submitted by:  Mandy Frielinghaus, Mauritius